Hi everyone, this is my first review, so any comments are welcome. Reviews from other travelers have been helping me to plan my trips for the last two years, so I will be glad if my text inspires other peoples managing their own adventures.

For the last year I have been wanting to visit one of the beech forests of Europe, but it did not happen over several trips (the closest chance I got was during my stay in Brussels, but Christmas is not the proper time for forests!!!).

So when I was planning my trip by rented car from Zadar to Istria I realized that now it is a time to make stop in either Paklenica NP or Northern Velebit NP: both national parks are parts of both the UNESCO site "Primeval Beech Forests" and the UNESCO tenttive site "Velebit Mountain".

The entrance to Paklenica is located right next to the coastal road, so the choice was not difficult.

Just driving through the main (southern) entrance to the park and walking forth and back along the gorge stream seemed boring to me. So I studied the map in the brochure on the park website and found that I can get to the middle of the creek along the trail down the western slope. And by Google Maps I found a parking area not far from one of trails.

All I needed was to find (or make) a shortcut between the road and the trail.

Indeed, I have found a shortcut (marked in blue on attached maps), but only on the way back.

Unfortunately, after I had left my car on the parking lot and was walking along the unpaved road, I passed by the beginning of the trail, as I expected to find it further. As a result, I climbed right along the rocks and bushes (my approximate path is marked in black on the map). Try to avoid repeating my fail.

Finally, I found a trail along which I descended into the gorge (the difference in altitude is 600 meters, if I read the map correctly). I returned from the gorge using the same trail, but in the last part I just followed the trail to the west and found a short and convenient way, which I decided to share with you. On the photo you could find what a trail beginning at the unpaved road looks like.

I would say you have to be a sportive person to repeat the way and schedule 3-4 hours for the whole adventure.

I hope this review could be useful to someone.